Legendary black basketball player Earl Lloyd died at the age of 86 on February 26, 2015. He was a NBA champion, a coach, and a hall of famer. The announcement of his death was made d by the West Virginia University, where he first played basketball before entering the NBA in 1950. Lloyd has three sons with wife Charlita residing in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee.
Earl Lloyd is known as the first black player to be in the NBA for nine seasons with Detroit, Syracuse, and Washington. This 6 feet and 220 lbs forward player was a strong rebounder in the NBA team. However, he missed out the NBA season in 1951-1952 when he served the U.S Army.
In 1955, Jim Tucker and Lloyd became the first black American players to play for the Syracuse Nationals in the N.B.A. championship.
In 1971, he became the head coach of Detroit Pistons which made him as the fourth black coach in the history of NBA, after the other known head coaches such as Al Attles of Golden State, Lenny Wilkens of Seattle, and Bill Russell of Boston.
With Lloyd's performance and accomplishment in the hard court, he was inducted in 2003 into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame for breaking the racial barrier between white and black players in the NBA. Lloyd is an inspiration to black American players. During his time, he was able to experience total discrimination while staying in a Fort Wayne hotel. He was prohibited to eat in the hotel's restaurant, but he managed to deal with it.
With Earl Lloyd death, people realized his big contribution in the NBA. He was able to prove that African-Americans have equal opportunity in the NBA game. This unsung star is indeed a big lost in the organization. His contribution marked in the NBA history and inspired many black Americans to showcase their skills in the court.
